Sunday, April 30, 2017

Tamashii Nations World Tour New York City 2017

This weekend was a real treat for fans of toy lines like S.H. Figuarts, Robot Spirits, and Daruma Club. Tamashii Nations held an amazing exhibit on Saturday and Sunday showcasing their dozens of toys from series such as Dragon Ball Z, Gundam, Sailor Moon, Saint Seiya, and more. NYC was only one stop on their 10th Anniversary World Tour roster, which started last year in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Taking up a massive corner of Grand Central Terminal, the show featured a rather gigantic Shenron and the dragon balls looming over the exhibits. Even better? Shenron was joined by a life-sized Goku action figure. That's right - action figure. Goku had joints!

The amount of figures they had on display was impressive for the space they had. Figures were grouped by show or movie, with a mix of figures that had already been released and were going on pre-order. Lighting in the cases are fairly decent too, which each case featuring a different layout and setup. I thought that was a nice way to keep each display looking fresh.

In addition to Japanese characters, they also had a wide variety of non-Japanese characters including Star Wars samurai figures, super hero samurai, and Marvel characters from Suicide Squad. I haven't seen much of these figures in person, but needless to say, the Stars Wars ones were wicked cool.

There was two retail counters for both days, one for pre-orders and non-exclusive items and another for exclusive items you could only purchase at the show. The photo above show all of their show exclusive items:

Although sadly neither Jordan or I got the Real Type Zaku we were hoping to get, we did take home a few of the commemorative goodies they had for sale, including Body-chan, the Tamashii Stage stand, and the World Tour Daruma. They were also handing out goodie bags with a free issue of Dragon Ball Super, a poster, card, and a flyer to pick up a free tote bag and sticker from participating stores nearby. I snagged my tote and sticker Kinokuniya. At the show they also offering a free Tamashii Nations membership card if you signed up on their website and with a purchase, members received a free white Daruma figure.

The coolest part, though? Getting to ride the flying Nimbus (Kinton), of course.

Even though their stock did not reflect the sheer amount of people that attended, I think that this shows that our country is just as enthusiastic and dedicated to collecting Japanese figures as the rest of the world. My hope is that there will be more shows like this in the future.

Please share this blog or leave a comment telling me what you thought of the show, what your favorite figure was, and what you would like to see more of next time for Tamashii. Personally, I want more Gundam figures!

Monday, April 10, 2017

Feature Shoot: Sakura Sunday with Sayla

Sunday, I finally got to visit Fairmount Park in Philadelphia to see the cherry blossom trees! I haven't been to their Sakura Sunday event in many years, so it was nice to finally go again and see all of the changes. (Thanks to ED for helping me with these photos!)

I put together a last minute outfit for Sayla, featuring a half length kimono that my friend's mom made for Nico many, many years ago. I recently found it and realized that it was the perfect color for Sayla, whose main color happens to be pink. I didn't have any proper obi lying about, so a flower pattern bandana from Target actually made a great makeshift one.

At the festival, they had a lot more vendors than when I was there last, including lost of anime ones. ED and I found the gunpla, of course. Lots of traditional Japanese merchandise including Daruma dolls, tabi socks, vintage kimonos, and more. I was surprised at the lack of Japanese foods available, however. I missed a lot of my Japanese festival favorites including taiyaki and takoyaki.

I picked up a lovely pink kanzashi (traditional Japanese hair ornament) hair clip early in the day, which really completed Sayla's look, I think. I also couldn't resist picking up some Sumikko Gurashi Rement blind boxes with ED as well. We pulled most of the good ones, I think!

Thanks to everyone I met up with and everyone who stopped for a photo of Sayla or to learn more about her. I can safely say I'm more in love with this doll more than ever. I am hoping that maybe I can afford another Dollfie Dream if VOLKS is at NYCC this October. Sayla needs a friend, don't you think?

Sunday, April 2, 2017

Feature Shoot: Get to Know Baby Garma

I wanted to start showcasing some of my dolls in a new blog series where you can get to know them - so first up? Baby Garma, of course!

Some of you may already know his older self, my SWITCH Taeheo, but did you know that they are both based off of Garma Zabi from the anime Mobile Suit Gundam? Someday, I hope to have his uniforms commissioned for both of them. Little Garma is actually based off of the Garma from the more recent Gundam the Origin series, which depicts him growing up and leads into the Garma we all know and love from the original series.

The Gundam franchise has always held a special place in my heart. It was my gateway into anime, dolls, and my love of Japanese culture. Garma is one of my all time favorite characters from the series - maybe someday I'll have other Yo-SD Gundam characters too? ;)

Baby Garma - although innocent - also has a curious and sassy side to him, which I think the Eddie sculpt encapsulates. He dresses very casual yet at the same time can wear a lot of adorable formal clothing (which I hope to get him more of in the future).

He likes ramen and udon a lot, playing with his Zaku toys, and imagining that he will one day defeat the Gundam. Outside adventures are his favorite and - of course, he loves flowers.